Last Friday we had gotten a letter telling us that USCIS (United States Customs and Immigration Service) had received Barb's application for a replacement Permanent Resident Card (green card). It informed us we should not use that letter to travel since it was not a statement of approval for her replacement green card. Since we were scheduled to leave on Wednesday of this week (just 5 days from the receipt of that letter) I decided to contact our Senator's office to see if they could help us speed things up. They asked me to write a statement and fax it along with all our supporting documentation, which I did by 4:30pm on Friday. Then we waited.
On Monday we received a letter from USCIS informing us Barb had the appointment to get her replacement green card - April 15, 2009 at 8:00 am! We were scheduled to go to China on April 8 and return on April 22. Barb couldn't keep an appointment on the 15th if she was in China and couldn't go if she didn't have a green card. We prayed but didn't know what else to do. At 2:30 pm I again called the Senator's office in Washington. After getting cut off once, I spoke a second time with a person who had no idea who I was or what I was talking about. He finally connected me with a staff member who handled immigration issues. She offered only the slightest glimmer of hope. She said we could apply for a document called, are you ready for this, "Advance Parole", which would cost $305.00 but would enable Barb to leave the country but she would still have to be back for her appointment for her new green card on April 15! She said Barb should not leave the country without a valid green card or the advance parole document or she would not be allowed to return. It didn't look good.
We called our son on Monday night and shared the news with him. We discussed our options. We could cancel our trip and all try to come later in the summer. Shawn and I could go without Barb but no one wanted that. We could pay the $305 and Barb could go as scheduled but she would need to return in order to keep her appointment on the 15th. Shawn and I could go alone and Barb could join us after she got her green card, flying over on the 16th and staying until we returned on the 22nd. This would save us $305 and Barb could get a short visit with our family in China. Everyone was discouraged but we decided to make an appointment at USCIS on Tuesday morning at 9:00am to determine if Barb would be given her green card on the day of her appointment, or would it be mailed to her at a later date. If it would be mailed later, we would cancel this trip and plan to go later in the summer. If she could get her green card on the 15th, we would plan to have her come on the 16th and Shawn and I would go on the 8th as planned. That is how it was as we went to bed on Monday night.
This is where my Lenten lesson comes in. Because I have been meditating on the Easter story, I have been thinking about the passion of Jesus as he prayed in the Garden on the night of his betrayal. I awoke in the night and realized that all my prayers had been for what I wanted in regards to this trip. But the prayer Jesus prayed in the garden was not only about what he wanted, but about a surrendering of his will to that of his Father. I woke Barb at 4:00 am and told her I felt we needed to surrender our plans to our Heavenly Father, no matter how hard it was, and commit to doing whatever He wanted of us. Barb agreed. We went back to sleep.
When we arrived at our appointment on Tuesday morning the agent helping us responded to Barb's request for information with the question, "So, you want me to stamp your passport?" Barb asked what he meant. He replied, he could stamp her passport with a stamp that worked like a green card and allowed her to travel and work for up to 6 months while she waited for her replacement green card to be processed! We said we love that stamp but we didn't have Barb's passport since we had come to get information. I asked if I went home and got her passport, could we still get that stamp? His response, "Absolutely." HOW LIKE OUR GOD!
I was back in 35 minutes and by 10:00am we left the Federal Courthouse in Hartford with Barb's passport stamped with the endorsement she needed to make the trip. We called our kids in China and shared with them the wonderful news, by the grace of God we would be on our way to see them in less than 24 hours!
Much still needed to be done, shopping, packing and taking our dog to be watched by Sarah's cousin Judah in Lee, Massachusetts. At 2 in the afternoon I loaded Rudy in the car, left our house in Windsor Locks, CT and headed to Lee where Rudy will stay with Judah and his family until we return from China. I wonder what stories we will have to tell each other.
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